


Marking our world

by KuroXan



Category: South Park
Genre: Abusive Parents, Alternate Universe - Never Met, Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Attempted Murder, Character Death, Fluff, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Graffiti, Growing Up Together, Guns, M/M, Orphans, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parental/brotherly figure, Slow Burn, Starvation, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Suicide, They're in for a long ride, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Two dorky boys, domestic abuse, drug gangs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-03-08 04:28:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18887179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KuroXan/pseuds/KuroXan
Summary: It's a big world for two boys. All they have is each other and a spray can.Updates every two weeks





	1. Make Your Mark

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this for a while. This is a very long fic, I'm planning at least 50 chapters. Hope you lot enjoy this passion project.

He couldn't believe it, his parents sold him off and left. It was easy to escape, all he had to do was kill himself. He was unbelievably pissed that they sold him so they could probably buy more drugs. They left their ten year old son to fend for himself while they enjoyed the profits.

Looking around his vacant house, he realized they had left him with nothing; all of his belongings were gone along with anything else of use. There wasn't even a crumb in the kitchen, though that may have been because of the rats. The only things they did leave behind were anything too big to carry such as the sofa and his mattress. While he didn't really want to stay in his shithole of a home, it was better than sleeping in the streets.

He needed to get a job if he didn't want to starve to death; not that he could die, but he didn't want to go through that pain. Job hunting had to start straight away, though luckily, he kept some money in his pockets. At least he wasn’t going to starve any time soon, this meant he would be able to find a job before his body began to give up on him.

* * *

 

Walking around the streets was annoying, there were so many happy people walking around him. People with normal families that don't sell their kids to the underground mob. There was also a pondering thought in the back of his mind, he missed Karen but there was no way he was ever going to be able to find her. He silently prayed in his mind that she would be fine on her own, Kevin being with her relieved a small amount of worry.

Something drew his eye, it was a vandalized store front. The black spray paint was still wet. “MAKE YOUR MARK,” was written in big bold letters. He couldn't help but stop to stare at it. It felt like the words were speaking directly to him. His sense of awe was interrupted by coughing coming from the alleyway between the vandalized building and a closed pub. He peeked in and saw a kid around his age tucked in the back corner; he was curled up into a ball, leaning against the wall.

What amazed him the most is that the kid was only wearing a t-shirt, worn down shoes, jeans and a strange blue hat with a yellow puff ball while it was freezing cold. His dark black hair contrasted with the few flakes of snow on his head. The boy looked up when he heard fresh snow crunch under the blonde’s feet.

The black haired boy glared at him silently, clearly not happy to be seen. The boy tucked his legs closer to his chest. Kenny probably should have left the kid alone but he couldn't help but feel drawn to him. Something about his blue eyes made him want to walk closer.

“Are you alright?” He asked mindlessly. That’s what normal people asked, right?

“I'm fine, now fucking leave me alone.” He emphasized his words by flipping the bird at the blonde. The other tucked himself deeper into the corner.

“How did you end up here?” Kenny tried to keep pity out of his voice, he was sure that it was the last thing the other boy needed. Kenny knew he wouldn’t want a random stranger treating him like a lost puppy.

Those deep blue eyes glared at him, grabbing a lump of snow with his bare hands before throwing it at Kenny’s face. He barely had time to duck out of the way. “None of your fucking business! Leave me alone!” The boy snarled, showing off his jacked up teeth. There was a noticeable gap between one of his front teeth and his left canine.

Kenny hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided to leave the other boy alone. He still needed to find a job after all, no point arguing with someone who clearly doesn’t want help or company.

* * *

 

Nobody was looking for cheap child labour sadly, there were too many legal issues for anyone to bother with him. No respectable place would want a ten year old working for them. City Wok was the only place that employed children and sadly, they weren’t hiring at the moment. He was going to have to get a slightly less respectable job if he wanted to eat. As he made his way home, his eyes glanced back at the vandalized building and the alleyway beside it. The kid probably left but he wanted to check on him just in case.

He was surprised to find the other boy still sitting there, he hadn’t moved an inch. Why didn't he go home? Kenny approached the other, whose response was slow and sluggish this time. He glanced up at Kenny and once he registered who it was he simply dropped his head back to his arms.

He didn't respond when Kenny walked over and sat next to him, seemingly too tired to react. Kenny didn't say anything for a while, letting the other get used to his presence. He took this time to observe the other, he was trying to hide it but he was clearly shivering. Goosebumps littered his thin exposed arms, the body's pitiful attempt to keep warm.

“Where’s your jacket?” Kenny eventually asked. The other boy looked up again and faced Kenny, he looked exhausted.

“I don't have it anymore.” He replied. Kenny understood this as 'It was stolen and I won't say it.’ The other boy rubbed his tired eyes with his cold fingers, his lips a faint tint of blue. He looked like he needed sleep and something to warm him up. In fact, he looked like he needed a lot of things that Kenny simply couldn’t provide.

“Why are you here?” Kenny asked the big question. Understandingly, the other boy didn’t reply or attempt to answer. He kept staring at the falling snow ahead of them. His expression was hard for Kenny to read and he was always great with gauging people, but this guy kept his face purposely blank. If he didn’t say anything, the silence would go on forever and he didn’t have that kind of time. Maybe if he talked, he would get the other to speak up too. “My parents decided to sell me off, before they moved away to buy drugs.”

The other looked up, a bright glint in his dark eyes, the light of acknowledgement. He peered back down at the snow while he told his own tale. “I went on a school trip for a week but when I came back, they were gone.”

“They must have meant his own family,” Kenny thought. This dark haired boy didn’t seem bad, maybe a bit of a temper but that might have been because of his situation. Why would his family leave him to die in the cold? Were they also drug addicts? Were they aware that he was wondering around, homeless? Did they not care? “Why did they leave you?” Kenny asked at some point during his flurry of thoughts.

“They never wanted me to begin with. They always wanted a daughter so once my little sister was born, they were soooo happy. They stopped paying attention to me, so I guess they wanted to get rid of me completely. I was a financial burden to them, they probably didn’t have enough money for two kids so they picked their favourite.” Kenny’s heart ached at the other boy’s explanation, but the other didn’t look upset. He probably already accepted what happened.

“What’s your name? Mine’s Kenny.” He took a liking to the other kid and decided that he wanted to exchange names. From the short time they interacted he could tell that the other boy was strong willed, stubborn and was tired of the world’s bullshit. Sounded a lot like himself

“It’s Craig T-”Craig started but Kenny was quick to cut him off.

“We don’t need to use our last names, they left us remember? So, we can leave those names behind.” Kenny offered the other a toothy grin, showing off the gap between his two front teeth.

“It’s just Craig then.” Craig chuckled lightly. The rush of cold air entering his lungs caused him to shiver more. Kenny became increasingly aware of Craig’s paling skin, he was clearly trying to keep his fingers warm to prevent frostbite from getting to them. How long has Craig been sitting here? He must have been here at least all day. It was probably longer than that. He couldn’t have been eating during this time either. Kenny thought of an idea, so he started removing his jacket until he was only in his t-shirt. “What are you doing?” Craig was starting to question the blonde’s sanity.

“You’re cold, take my jacket.” Kenny said before forcing the jacket onto the reluctant Craig, he struggled and complained.

“I don’t need your pity.” He scoffed when Kenny got his arms through the sleeves. Kenny simply laughed at the other’s pouting face.

“Here.” Kenny said as he yanked off Craig’s strange hat, his dark black mop now fully exposed before covering his blonde hair. “I’ll take your hat in exchange, so we’re even.”

“Okay!” Craig beamed as he laughed, his teeth weren’t perfect either, but they had a certain charm to them. He slowly closed his eyes and snuggled against the warm puffy orange parka, he stifled a yawn and buried his face into the sleeves.

Kenny chuckled at that, he tugged at the sleeves of the jacket. Craig grumbled angrily, this guy doesn’t stop complaining. “Let’s go to my house, you can sleep on my bed.” He offered with the dumbest smile he could muster. Craig looked like he was going to complain but seemed to have changed his mind, he begrudgingly stood up.

“Fine.” he sighed as he wiped at his tired eyes again. Kenny was quick to grab his free hand and drag him out of the alleyway. Craig winced at the harsh light coming from the setting sun. This was a big change and he didn’t like it. Kenny on the other hand looked between the now dried graffiti and his new companion. He didn’t know it yet, but this was a huge turning point in his life. He gave Craig another grin and Craig gave him a tired smile back.  
  
Kenny didn’t care about the happy families around them, there was something about the warmth of Craig’s hand that made it seem like everything was going to be okay. Earlier he was dreading coming back to the empty house but now he was excited to show the other in. He opened the door and let Craig enter first, like a good host. Craig scoffed and rolled his eyes at the action, everything Kenny did seemed to always be lame, it didn’t impress him.

Kenny led Craig to his room before quickly leaving to look for a blanket. He already knew that his own room didn’t have any, he checked it when he first came back. He couldn’t find anything that even resembled a blanket, he was a bad host, he pouted to himself. When he returned to his room empty handed, he was surprised to find Craig asleep on his mattress. He was sleeping on his left side, using his arm and sleeve as a makeshift pillow. His legs were tucked into the oversized parka.

He was shocked that Craig could even fall asleep on that lumpy thing. It was uneven and the springs would constantly poke you, no matter how you positioned yourself. Craig must have really been tired. Kenny laid next to the dark haired boy and wrapped his arms around him. It was more uncomfortable than normal without his parka with a spring digging into his side but the new added warmth from the other boy made it easier to fall asleep.

 


	2. Colorado: An empty house

Craig was beyond confused when he woke up, he found himself staring at a decaying ceiling. This wasn’t his room or the campsite, he jolted up and found himself in an unfamiliar room. Attempting to recall the last two days hurt. Once his headache passed, he had a pretty good idea of what had happened. He was too lazy to really think about it, his body ached, and he was pretty sure that he was sick. Wiping his nose just resulted in getting snot all over the borrowed parka. Gross, he glared at the mucus hoping it would disappear if he willed it away.

He wiped the evidence on the mattress when he heard someone approaching the room. He saw a blonde boy peek in, the other boy formed a bright smile as soon as his eyes landed on him. Craig was pretty sure his name was Kenny, his memory was still foggy since he was barely conscious when they met. “You’re awake!” Kenny happily announced like Craig wasn’t already aware of that. This kid was weird, Craig concluded.

He hid the damp sleeve, using his body as cover, he didn’t want Kenny knowing he used his jacket as a tissue. His nose itched which caused him to sneeze, luckily he already wiped his nose or there would have been an embarrassing mess. No, there was a mess, it was on the sleeve. “You’re sick”, Kenny pointed out. Kenny always stated the obvious.

“Yep but just a bit.” Craig reassured him. Considering he was sitting in that alleyway for two days, with only a t-shirt, he was lucky he wasn’t worse. Worse than his sickness was the pain of an empty stomach, he hadn’t eaten for three days. Was this starvation? He sure hoped it fucking wasn’t. Didn’t it take three weeks to starve? Did that only count for adults?

Craig flinched when something hit his leg, it didn’t hurt but it startled him. He picked it up, it was a half eaten cereal bar. “I don’t think you’ve noticed but your stomach has been grumbling loudly for the last two minutes. Don’t worry, it’s only two days old.” Kenny stuck his tongue out playfully and Craig flipped him off. He flipped him off with the snot sleeve, most of it was dried or smeared against the mattress, much to Craig’s relief.

“Thanks.” he muttered quietly as he peeled back the wrapping before taking a bite. It had raisins, he hates raisins. He decided not to say anything. Once Kenny was satisfied that Craig was feed, he turned and walked towards the door until Craig stopped him. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going job hunting, we need money to feed both of us.” Kenny turned to look at Craig.

“Both of us?” Craig said with a sceptical look on his face. He was for all intents and purposes, a complete stranger to Kenny. He could barely even remember how their interactions last night went.

“Yes, we’re like best buds now.” Kenny joked, he placed his hands on his hip waiting for Craig to retaliate.

Craig thought back to their small amount of time together, he certainly didn’t hate the blonde. “I don’t know, maybe?” He was unsure. Kenny was taken aback by the answer before composing himself and chuckled.

“Perfect. I’m heading out now. Is there anything you really want? Nothing expensive please.” Kenny asked like a good host, Kenny prided himself in that.

“Apple juice.” Craig answered immediately. He doesn’t even like it that much, but he had been craving it for the last two days.

“Got it.” Kenny said as he winked in response. Again, he turned to the door to leave but Craig stopped him. He had gotten up and rushed over, grabbing his shirt to halt him. “Yes?” Concerned this time.

Craig pulled off the Parka and shoved it into Kenny’s arms. “You should take this back. You look homeless without it so it’ll be better for job searching if you have it on.” Craig insisted. Hoping the snot had dried and wouldn’t be visible.

“Firstly, fuck you. I don’t look homeless but thanks. Also, do you want your hat-” Kenny didn’t get to finish what he was saying as Craig started to push him towards the front door.

“Dude, just fucking go already. You’ll need it more since you’re the one going outside. I’ll stay here, I’ll be fine. Do you think I’m some kind of fucking weak ass chick?” Kenny laughed at Craig’s rambling. He opened the door slightly, just enough for him to slip through. He didn’t want to get too much cold air inside.

“Okay. Okay. I hear you. Stay in here and try to get better,” were his last words before he finally shut the door leaving Craig alone in the house.

It felt strange to not have his hat, he kept reaching for it to find it wasn’t on his head. He stood staring at the door for a moment before turning back to the house. He had a lot of time to kill so he decided to look around. Even with almost everything was missing, it was a mess. The table was cracked, there were wine stains all over the wall and even on the ceiling. Kenny definitely had a horrible home life, maybe he was lucky that they left. Craig never dealt with abuse, just neglect.

He walked into the kitchen and it smelled like weed. He opened all the drawers in the room to find everything completely empty besides a dead rat. Being a curious kid, he poked it with a stick he found on the floor. He could confirm that it was dead, he was hoping it would be a zombie rat. Nope, it was a normal corpse.

Turning the taps resulted in nothing, no water. The next idea was to test the lights, they were blinking but at least they were working. He coughed a bit when his throat started to itch slightly. With the kitchen thoroughly inspected he went into one of the other bedrooms. There were two rectangles on clean flooring that indicated that there used to be two beds there. There were girly drawings littering the room, Kenny must have had a little sister.

Even though Craig only knew his baby sister for six months and she made his life a living hell, he did like her. She was a cute baby, her chubby cheeks reminded him of a guinea pig. He saw the name Kevin written on the wall somewhere, so he must have been the owner of the other bed.

The last bedroom must have been the parent’s since it had a double bed shaped clean patch. He could see specks of white powder on the floor. Drugs. That was enough sight seeing for now, he made his way back to Kenny’s room. At least they left Kenny a mattress. He flopped onto it which was the worst idea he’s ever had, loose springs dug painfully into his back but he didn’t care, he looked cool.

Kenny also had a bad home life, just like him. That didn’t matter much since they both decided to disown them like they did to the pair. He wasn’t Craig Tucker anymore, just Craig. He peeked at the window to see that it was still early. Great, he probably only burned two hours if he was being generous but in reality, it was barely over a single hour.

“Morning Sunshine!”, Kenny shouted in his face which caused him to startle awake. When did he fall asleep? At least he didn’t feel sick anymore. He shoved Kenny’s face away from his. “I got what the doctor ordered.” Kenny waved a juice carton in his face.

Craig swiped it out of the blonde’s hands. “Thanks, you’re a life saver!” He struggled to get the carton open. Once he got the tab off, he chugged at least half of the contents before setting it down. “God, I fucking hate apple juice.” It was sour and sickeningly sweet, exactly why he hates apple juice. He can stop craving it now that his brain remembered why he hated the drink.

“Wow, what did I just witness?”, Kenny joked before seating himself next to Craig. He picked up the drink and helped Craig finish it. He looked at Kenny with utter disgust and made pretend gagging motions. “You’re the one who drank half without stopping to breathe.” Kenny snorted.

“I never said I liked it. I was just craving it, asshole.” Craig chuckled back.

“Asshole wants you to put the jacket back on. Don’t fight back this time, Mr I Wiped My Boogies On The Sleeve.” Craig gasped in response, he was caught red handed. Kenny simply snickered in response as he took off his parka and helped Craig get into it. “It was pretty obvious, and I saw you do it.” Kenny’s words made Craig want to die from embarrassment.

“I’m not even sick anymore. I don’t need the jacket.” He said, trying to steer the focus of the conversation away from him crime. Glancing over, there wasn’t any evidence of what he did. His eyes drifted back to the blonde besides him. Kenny was hiding something behind his back, he noted.

“We’re heading out, I found something interesting.” Kenny spoke cheerfully, staring at him strangely, almost expectantly. Both boys remained silent. Craig just stared back, not taking the que to respond to the others statement. After a minute dragged on, Kenny found it too late to add something else without making it more awkward between the two. Craig showed no indication that he was going to react to the information.

The staring was getting uncomfortable so Craig turned away first, he cleared his throat. “Okay.” He muttered quietly, not sure if he should be speaking up. He spotted something in Kenny’s hand while the other boy was busy thinking about what to say to relief the awkward air between them. Kenny was holding something metallic. “What are you holding?” He eventually asked timidly, he flinched when Kenny jerked his head up, snapping out of his thoughts. Luckily for him, Kenny didn’t notice.

Kenny proudly showed off what he was holding. “It’s a spray can!” He cheered happily, practically shoving it in Craig’s face. He growled and took a step back. Kenny mouthed an apology, which he accepted, it wasn’t something worth getting worked up over and Kenny seemed genuinely sorry. He was curious about the spray can but didn’t say anything or react. Nothing was said when Kenny grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the house.

It wasn’t until they were outside that Kenny returned to his chatty self. “I’ve never spray painted before, but it looks super cool and I know the perfect place to test this out.” Craig didn’t reply and noticed they were back at the spot they met.

He glanced around, noticing there was still frozen pee besides a wooden crate. “Sure.” He drawled out before sitting on the crate so he could watch Kenny ruin a pristine brick wall. Kenny read the instructions first, he then shook the can and removed the lid. Craig watched silently the other began to spray onto the wall. He watched with mild amusement at first, but he soon became invested in the art. “You should give him wings and a halo.” Craig bellowed out cheerfully.

Encouraged by Craig’s cheering he added wings and a halo onto the character. He stood back proudly once he was finished, Craig stood next to him in awe. A round headed character with a parka much like Kenny’s but drawn covering most of his face with wings and a halo. “I thought you said you never done this before.” Craig said accusingly.

“I haven’t. I’m just talented.” Kenny retorted back playfully.

“I really like it.” Craig complimented shyly, Kenny beamed at him. “It’s really cool.” He added as Kenny walked back towards the drawing and sprayed something onto the corner, he stepped back to the let Craig see, ‘C+K’ it read. “You don’t need to sign my name, I didn’t do anything.”

“Don’t be so modest, you thought of the idea of the wings and the halo. Plus, you were my inspiration.” Kenny said merrily.

Craig chuckled softly, “That’s kinda dumb but I’ll accept it.” He smiled for the first time since they’d met, the last time he smiled was when he met his new born sister.

“Let’s go somewhere to eat.” Kenny said after they stood in from of the mural, they were staring at for what seemed like hours. Craig flexed his cold fingers and found them to be slow and stiff. He held onto one of Kenny’s gloved hands to warm his up. 

“Okay.” He said before they both left the alleyway. As they left, he stared at the store with the words ‘MAKE YOUR MARK’ graffitied onto the front. His core lit with a passion he had never felt before. There was no need to stay passive anymore, he was free to do whatever he wants. He grasped Kenny’s hand tighter as the two walked towards the setting sun.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments would be great if you have the will to/ any free time to write one. How you'll like these soft boys


	3. Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A turning point in their lives
> 
> Kenny

Kenny found the other laying in the bed not moving much, just staring out of the window aimlessly. He tends to stay laying in that bed a lot of the time. He’d wake up to work and return, Craig would still be there. At that point, he was slowly getting worried for his partner. He took off his parka and tossed it onto the laying boy, who lazily glanced up and didn’t say anything. After two weeks of living together, he grew used to Craig’s strange way of not talking unless he was directly and unquestionably being asked to respond.

“Why are you always laying on the bed?” He made sure to ask clearly, keeping eye contact.

“You’re going to work, right? There’s nothing else to do here.” Craig responded tiredly, he glanced down at the parka questionably. When Kenny worked, he would have both it and his hat. The clothes on their bodies was all they had so they needed to share. It wasn’t the best situation to be in but they couldn’t afford new clothes, they could barely afford food.

“I’m not working today, it’s my day off.” Which always meant, they won’t let me work today but he wasn’t going to say that and he was certain Craig already knew. Today was going to be a good day for the both, he didn’t need to spoil it with the reality of it all. They were still kids, Craig was still a kid.

“Are we going to spray stuff on some walls?” Craig’s voice became a pitch higher from pure excitement. He always thought it was funny how Craig gets when he’s happy.

“Yes we are!” He cheered which got Craig stumbling out of bed and rushing to put on the over sized coat. Once he was all zipped in the two were ready to find some good wall space.

He held onto Craig’s hands as they walked through the poor part of the town, they needed to be ready to run if anyone tries to attack them. Even though Craig had the longer legs between the two of them, he was incredibly slow. They slowly made their way into town, it was nice to see no other kids around since it was a week day. Other kids didn’t like him, so he preferred it better this way. Ever since he met Craig, he didn’t need to be lonely anymore.

Once they were in the main part of town Craig let go of his hand, his hand felt empty but that was fine. They had split up to find any free space they could. He managed to find a fat cat but he also noticed it had skinny legs so it was probably pregnant. He watched it leap away.

“Kenny!” He heard Craig shout in the distance. He jogged over to his partner and made sure to slow down to take a sniff as he passed a bakery, it looked new. He spotted Craig waving him over, he was always excited about watching him spray paint the walls. As soon as he entered the alley way Craig sat on the floor, ready to watch.

“We should talk while I draw today.” He said as he shook the can, it was nearly empty. It probably won’t last another day.

“Sure, what do you want to talk about?” Craig asked as he made himself comfortable.

Kenny stopped to think for a moment. “Sometimes when I talk to you, you don’t respond to me. I don’t mind, I just think it’s kinda weird.” He fiddled with the head of the spraycan, not ready to commit to anything yet.

Craig hummed in thought. “I’m not doing it on purpose, I’m not used to talking to people. When people used to talk around me, they normally didn’t want me to respond. If they noticed I was there to begin with.” He lowered the spray can to look at Craig, both didn’t say anything for a while. Craig was gauging Kenny’s reaction and Kenny was silently going through what he heard.

“Want to tell me more about it?” Kenny asked hesitantly.

“I thought we weren’t meant to talk about our families anymore.” Craig responded and Kenny didn’t like what that implied.

He dawned on something. “If we talk about them we can have closure and then we can finally move on. It’ll just be the two of us, we won’t have baggage anymore.” It was hopeful thinking but maybe they could finally move on with their lives after taking this one big step.

“Alright, if you think it’ll work. You start drawing while I think about how to explain.” Craig chuckled. He nodded in response and concentrated on what he wanted to draw and figured a small monster would do.

It didn’t take long for Craig to sort out his thoughts. “It started when my… mom had her first baby scan thing. They told her she was going to have a baby girl and they were soooo happy. The doctor was ninety percent sure I was a girl, but she knew in her heart she was going to have a girl and dad was happy too. So when I was born and I turned out to be a boy, it must have been the saddest day of their lives.”

Kenny stopped whatever he was doing. “That’s pretty fucking shit.” It made his blood boil, parents should love their kids unconditionally.

“I’m glad they didn’t dress me up as a girl while I grew up at least. I remember hearing them talking about how she struggled to even get one kid. I basically ruined their dreams of a perfect daughter.” Craig said in a defeated tone which made Kenny grimace at the thought that Craig had come to accept that as fact.

He placed the can down and moved to sit next to the other “No Craig, that’s messed up. They’re messed up, you didn’t do anything wrong.” He said as warmly as he could before placing a reassuring hand on Craig’s shoulder. “We can stop here, we don’t need to keep talking about it.”

Craig turned to him with a small smile, the sad kind. The kind that makes you think you kicked a defenceless puppy. “Once I say it, I can finally move on from it. Also, I didn’t answer your question yet.”

“If it helps you. Feel free to stop at any point, you don’t owe me anything.” Kenny used the kind of tone he’d use with Karen.

“Thanks. It’s weird to hear someone take my feelings into consideration, it always felt like I was dead to the world.” Craig spoke before leaning his body against Kenny’s. “When I was at home my parents never talked to me, they pretended I didn’t exist. They only ever did enough to keep child protection services off their asses. During the times they let me sit with them at the table they would sometimes be talking to each other. At first, I tried to join in, but they would act like I wasn’t there. That’s just how they were all the time, so I quickly gave up.”

“That’s why you don’t respond sometimes.” Kenny stated understandingly.

Craig turned to face the ground, “I didn’t understand when I’m meant to say anything, my parents never talked to me. Most of my life, I thought I wasn’t supposed to talk. I only noticed something was off with me when people in my class were ignoring me too, it’s probably because I wouldn’t talk when they talked to me. I had to get therapy, but the damage was already done. I guess I still have issues since I’m still not responding sometimes.”

“It’s alright, I don’t mind. It’s nice to have someone around.” Kenny noticed the sun was high above them, he noted that Craig was looking tired. “Let’s take a break. We can buy something from the market.”

“That sounds like a good idea, I’m a bit hungry.” Craig sighed. Whether it was relief or just due to exhaustion, Kenny couldn’t tell.

He got up first and helped Craig up. Craig struggled weakly to get back onto his feet, doing so much in one day was already tiring him out. Kenny observed Craig gradually getting thinner everyday and he was a slim guy to begin with. Craig was certainly lying about only being _a bit hungry_. They walked hand in hand to the market.

There was no point going to the supermarket anymore, they couldn’t even afford pop tarts anymore. He dug through one of his pockets, he felt his gun. Wrong pocket. He checked through the second one and found his cash. He counted it all, it was a grim sight. In total he had a one dollar note and three cent coins.

It was almost painful to seeing food all around them. He was thinking about stealing some but he didn’t want to do that until they absolutely had to. If he got caught, Craig wouldn’t be able to look after himself. He didn’t want to think about Craig dying of starvation by himself. Before his thoughts could get too dark, he spotted someone was selling three apples for fifty cents. “Want apple?”

Craig took a moment to understand that Kenny was talking to him. “Yeah, I like apples.”

“I know.” Craig had told him last week when he brought some home. He hated cheap store bought apple juice, but he loved real apples. Craig was weird like that. He paid for the apples and gave Craig two of them. Craig needed them more than he did.

“Are we splitting this one?” Craig looked at the second apple questionably.

“I’m giving you two.”

“That isn’t fair, you’re the one earning the money. We should at least split it in half.” Craig started poking Kenny’s face with the apple. “You take it.”

“You need it Craig, you’re already the skinniest of us two. If you give it to me, I’m just going to leave it on the floor so eat it.” He wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“You hate wasting food.” Craig grumbled.

Kenny chuckled at that. “I’m willing to break my morals to prove a point. It’s either you eat or no one eats it.”

“That’s so dumb. You always have the worst and dumbest ideas.” Craig joked but he gave up trying to get the other to take his half, he was too tired and his partner was too stubborn. He picked the reddest apples he could find, Craig’s favourite kind of apple. They finished eating before they left.

They found a public drinking fountain and drank from it. Craig splashed his face with some water. “I feel gross.”

“Sorry, we don’t have running water at home.” It’s been like that for years, normally he would use the school shower but he didn’t really have time for school anymore.

“It makes me feel better that you’re gross too.” Craig snorted loudly.

He pulled Craig in for a hug. “Two gross boys who haven’t showered in two weeks!” He was shouting at the top of his lung with an uncontrollable grin growing on his face.

“Alright gross boy, let’s go back to the drawing.” The two made their way back to the alleyway. “You left our spray can.”

“Oops.” Kenny teased as he picked it up and watched Craig sit back in the spot he was in earlier. “Want me to draw while you talk?”

“Yeah.” With that response Kenny worked on finishing his drawing. Craig closed his eyes as he remembered when he left off. “Not much happened after that. Things stayed the same, they wouldn’t even look at me. Until last year, my mom found out she was pregnant. They check again and again, they were going to have a baby girl.”

“You have a sister?” Kenny asked without much thought.

“Yeah, I did. Her name is Tricia. I really wanted to hate her. If she was born before me, maybe I could have been born to a family that would have loved me. When I finally met her, I ended up not hating her. She was so small and helpless and when she held my hand for the first time, it made my chest warm. It was the kind of love I never felt before, her hand was so small. I wanted to look after her.” Craig sighed at the end as he stared at his hand. Kenny finished off his drawing and sat down next to Craig.

“There’s something about younger siblings that you can’t help but want to protect. It’s like, you went through a shit life and you don’t want them to go through the same thing. It’s how I was with my younger sister, Karen. I miss her every single day, but I know there’s no hope in finding her.” This time it was Craig who held onto his hands first. Fingers clumsily bumped into each other until their fingers were delicately intertwined. “I worry about her. I would normally be the one to protect her when my parents got violent, but I know Kevin will protect her in my place.”

Craig squeezed his hand a little tighter. “They hit you?” He asked softly as he looked up to make eye contact.

He squeezed back a little. “They did, they hit all of us.”

Craig’s grip loosened and he attempted to pull his hand away, but Kenny never let go. “I’m sorry, I’m here complaining about my parents while yours hit you.”

He pulled their entwined hands to his chest. “What are you talking about? Your parents hurt you too.” He almost couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Craig was so abused for so long he started to see it as normal and not the abuse it really was.

“They never hit me.” The look in Craig’s eyes read nothing but of guilt and shame.

“No! They might not have left scars on the outside but they hurt you. They didn’t let you have a normal life that a kid should have had. Both of our parents left us because they never loved us to begin with. Just because they didn’t hit you, doesn’t make it any less painful. They made you feel alone, that’s just as bad as any time my parents hit me.” He said as he found Craig’s other hand and held them to his chest.

“Kenny… Thanks, it really means a lot to have someone willing to listen to me.” Craig stared down at their hands. “When I left for that school trip and came back to see they were gone, I was heartbroken. I wanted to see my sister, I wanted to be there for her so maybe I wouldn’t be so lonely anymore.”

“I’ll never let you feel lonely again. My parents can’t hit me anymore or hurt me and I’ll never let you feel alone. We can move on together if that’s what you want.” He let go of Craig’s hands, the other kept his fingers pressed against Kenny’s palms.

“I do.” Craig whispered quietly.

Kenny stood up and pulled Craig up with him. “I have an idea! Let’s go to every state and a draw mural in each one, just like our first one.”

Craig chuckled bubbly, “How’d you come up with a plan like that?”

“Our parents might have left us but we’re going to show the world how awesome we are! I want us to leave our mark and mark our own world.” Craig was taken aback by Kenny’s overflowing enthusiasm.

“You always have the shittiest plans… but I love it. I’ll come with you.” Craig sighed jokingly, with a bright spark in his eyes.

“Come on buddy, let’s go home before it gets to dark, we can start that adventure when it’s not the middle of winter.” The two started walking out of the alleyway hand in hand. Kenny peeks back at his drawing.

Concealed in a damp dirty alleyway, away from prying eyes was a small seedling sprouting out of the ground, reaching for the sun above. Besides this mural laid an empty spray can. Kenny took one last hard look before heading with Craig back to the house.

 

 

 


	4. Paranoia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They've been together for 2 months an thnigs aren't easy

Pain. That’s all he could feel when he woke up. He stared out of the window because at least he could distract himself from his body slowly giving up on him. There was the sound of something moving around in the room, he didn’t turn to face it. Everything was too painful, and he already knew who it was.

They nudged his shoulder, that was when Craig tiredly turned back to look at him. Kenny gave him a soft look, but all his delirious mind could see was pity. “Are you going to be alright here on your own?”

He took a deep breath. “Yeah.” It took a lot to make it sound normal. He didn’t want Kenny to know, to know that his body was giving up because he was on the verge of starvation. Kenny was fired recently so they had to go without food yesterday and he already spent the whole day job searching. It wouldn’t have been so bad if they weren’t low on food constantly. He felt guilt, it filled his mind constantly. Kenny would be perfectly fine looking after himself, how was one kid expected to feed two. Kenny always skips on meals for him and it made him feel like dirt.

“Remember, don’t go outside while I’m working. It’s not safe out there.” Kenny place a hand on his shoulder but he refused to look at him, it made his chest hurt with shame and that was worse than the starving.

“I know.” He whined, he didn’t mean to but his body would only handle so much without showing in his voice.

Kenny didn’t say anything at first. “When I come home, I could buy a treat if you want. Is there anything you’ll like to request?”

“I don’t want anything. I just want you to come home as soon as possible.” He turned his body to face Kenny.

“Okay. I’ll come home as soon as I can.” Kenny walked to the door but he stopped and hesitated to leave. “I don’t want to leave you on your own but I need to get us food.” The blonde’s hand stayed clamped to the door frame like it was a safety line.

“I know.” He repeated. He watched Kenny reluctantly leave, who tried to draw out the moment for as long as he could until he walked out of vision.

He flopped onto his back and stared out of the window. The sound of Kenny walking through the snow could be made out against the painful thumping of his brain. He listened to it until the soft patter of crunching snow faded into nothing. His mind dampened by the returning thoughts of loneliness and isolation he’d grown up on. All of this was pushing him to the edge with the starvation working as a catalyst.

His eyes wondered around the room, there was nothing, no life. Nothing but the feeling that he was going to rot in this room made sense anymore. He’s been observing the mouldy walls for hours for days on end.

Suddenly, he was up. He couldn’t handle being in this room any longer. If he stayed, death would meet him before Kenny’s return. He forced his body up, even when he stumbled on his deprived limps his mind pushed him further. His mind swayed as he walked through the decaying house, the world around him never stayed still.

Opening the front door was a challenge all on its own. His hand trembled and could barely grip the handle but eventually he managed to get the door open. The cold licked against his bare arms and face. Kenny had both their hat and their jacket. The cold numbed the pain pounding through his head, it was welcoming, sickeningly welcoming. 

His shoes crushed the snow beneath him, every step he took the harder it was to pick his feet back up. He was slowly sinking more and more into the snow. His foot caught on a root hidden under the snow and felt his body plummet into the snow covered ground. The freezing snow hugged his body, sapping out the little energy he had left.

His mind was going blank, the pain was gradually fading and being replaced with a welcoming embrace of death. _**I’ll never let you feel lonely again**_. He heard just as he started accepting death **. _I want us to leave our mark and mark our own world_**  . He pushed his body out of the snow and gasped desperately for air.

He clawed onto the tree closest to him and dragged himself up. He couldn’t die yet, he needed to live for Kenny, they made a promise together. He trudged his way into town, his eyes felt heavy. He collapsed in front of a store, he could smell the scent of fresh bread. His body became stiff and his eyes slipped shut, but his will to live kept him awake. There was the sound of thumping coming closer.

“W-What the fuck? Oh God, he isn’t dead is he?” A voice came from above, he couldn’t will his eyes open to see who it was. He felt something searing hot touch his neck. “Perfect, he’s alive. Thank God.” He felt someone lift up his small frail body, pressed his body against the warmth enveloping him. “Stay awake kid.”

Craig hummed in response to show he was still conscious. “You kinda smell, you must have been out there for a while.” The smell of bread started to become overwhelming so he pressed his face against the stranger’s chest. At some point they left the area that was potent with the scent of baked goods. He felt the stranger put him down on something soft. “I’m about to take off your clothes soon so like, don’t freak out.”

There was the sound of rushing water, the room smelled like coffee and soap. A weird combination but Craig thought it was strangely homely, the smell was enough to urge his eyes open. There was a messy haired blonde running water into a tub. He was wearing an apron and had flour on his face. Craig could feel his eyes drooping again. The stranger turned around. “You opened your eyes, that’s a good sign.” The blonde stranger slowly made his way towards him. “And, I’m going to take your clothes off. Is that okay?”

He nodded weakly in response. The stranger helped him out of his clothes, they hadn’t been washed in over a month. He was then picked up again, the stranger carefully eased him into the warm water. It was almost nostalgic to feel warm water against his skin again. He was starting to grow used to bathing in pond water that Kenny would carry home “Wow, it looks worse than I thought it’d be. I’ll get you some food when I finish bathing you.”

“My name is Tweek by the way.” Tweek said as he poured something onto his head, it smelled heavily of coffee with undertones of a chemical shampoo scent. Tweek gently rubbed in small circle patterns against his hair, it was so tender and caring it was beginning to lull him into sleep.

“Craig.” He muttered under his breath, too exhausted to speak any louder. He could feel the grime that’s been building up over the last month slowly lift off, along with the shampoo.

“The name suits you.” Tweek spoke kindly as he carefully rinsed out the shampoo, constantly mindful of the boy’s eyes. Tweek then helped clean his body, seeing brown water pour down the drain was eye opening. He didn’t realise how dirty he was.

Tweek helped him out of the tub and covered him up with a thick fluffy towel. He ruffled his hair with another towel. Tweek then left the room without a word. Craig legs were starting to give out so he sat on the floor, waiting for the blonde’s return. “I don’t have anything that will fit you. All I can give you is t shirt and some shorts.”

Tweek peeked into the room and Craig stared at him blankly. “Would you like to wear my tshirt and shorts?” He rephrased.

Craig hesitated to respond. “Yeah.” Tweek helped him get dressed, everything was too big for him, the neck of the shirt sat low which showed off his now pronounced collarbones and the shorts struggled to stay on his small waist.

“Sorry, it’s all I’ve got. I can’t leave the store since I’m the only one working here. You’re lucky I picked you up before the lunch rush.” Tweek spoke bashfully. Craig wanted to say that it was alright but didn’t know if he should, he didn’t know if it was appropriate say anything. Tweek carried him back into the store area.

This was the first time he was seeing it. The area was warmly lit with an orangey glow, the walls were painted in shades of pale greens and browns with small potted plants littering the room. He drooled at the sight of bread everywhere. He was then plopped down into a cushiony seat. “I think I’m only allowed to give you plain bread. I read somewhere that if I give you something too heavy, your organs will fail.” Craig didn’t know if he was meant to respond to that.

He watched Tweek pull a round loaf of bread out of a tray and handed it to him. The bread was still warm in his hands, crumbs stuck to his still damp hands. The heat of it was a strange sensation against his fingers. He brought it up to his face, it smelled like a normal loaf of bread but it also had the scent of caramel that only came from a homemade loaf of bread that store brought ones couldn’t replicate.

He bit into the bread, followed by another and then another. It was odd to have warm food after so long, his parents long stopped bothering to cook food for him. Even though the loaf was probably the plainest that the baker had, it was the best thing he’s eaten in a long time. His face felt hot and wet, when he touched his face, he realised tears were pouring from his eyes. As he blinked, it only caused them to run freely.

“Hey, are you alright?” Tweek asked with concern. This only prompted him to stuff his cheeks with bread, scared the blonde would take away his food, he clung onto it. Tweek bent over and rubbed his tear streaked cheeks with his thumbs lightly. “Hey, it’s alright. Don’t cry, I won’t do anything to upset you. You need to slow down though, I don’t want you to choke.”

Despite Tweek warnings Craig kept his cheeks stuff and would refill then as soon as he swallowed. Tweek was kind enough to give him water to help him eat. He didn’t stop until he ate the entire footlong loaf, his mind started to lag behind as all his body’s effort shifted from his brain to his stomach.

His eyes were drooping again. Tweek took this as a sign to pick up Craig and lay him in his own bed. He easily fell asleep tucked snugly into soft sheets that smelled just as warm and homey as the bakery.

When he woke up, he felt like crying, he was all alone. He crawled out of the bed, his feet touched the slightly chilled laminated wooden floor. With his stomach full, it was easier to walk. He took a pillow with him before he wandered through the house and came across the stairs that lead him to the bakery. He found Tweek sitting at the counter and slowly brought himself up to the blonde. “What are you doing here?” He asked once he noticed Craig.

“I don’t want to sleep by myself.” He replied simply.

“I can’t leave the counter, so you’ll need to sleep on my lap.” Craig walked over and Tweek helped him get comfortable in his lap. “Lucky you, the lunch rush finished an hour ago.”

He rested his head against Tweek’s chest and his face against the pillow he brought down. He slept most of the time, waking up occasionally when Tweek needed to get something for a customer or when he needed to get things out of the oven. He heard a few ladies coo about how cute he slept.

Everything was peaceful until he woke up to the sound of shouting. “Let go of Craig, you disgusting pedophile!” His weary mind recognised that voice as Kenny’s.

“What? I’m not a pedophile.” Tweek sounded panicked.

“If you don’t let go of him, I’m calling the fucking cops!” Kenny was furious. When he managed to open his eyes, he could see Kenny red with anger. He’s never seen him angry before, it startled him a little.

“Aright, alright! I’ll put him down, ahh, don’t do anything crazy. Anything but the cops!” Tweek hurryingly puts Craig back on the ground. He grabs something from the display and puts it in Craig’s hands. “At least take this with you before you go, you can come back for your clothes tomorrow.” The baker whispered.

Craig held the small bread roll in his hands and nodded before rounding the counter to see a relieved Kenny, he was all smiles again once he saw Craig was safe. “Kenny!” He ran over to the dirty blonde who pulled him into a hug, he was kind of stinky, but he didn’t care. Kenny gave him the jacket and led the two out of the bakery.

“I’m so glad you’re safe. Did he hurt you in any way or touch you weirdly? Because if he did, I’ll hurt him.” While Kenny was busy talking, Craig stuffed the fresh bread roll under his clothes to keep it warm and to keep his tummy warm too. “Craig, are you listening to me?”

“He didn’t do anything weird.” He reassured.

“I told you not to leave the house. Why’d you do it?” Kenny was trying to tell him off which he didn’t like.

He thought back to what happened that morning. “I thought I was going to die.” Kenny stopped walking, he wasn’t happy about it since his legs were getting cold but he didn’t say anything.

“I’m sorry.” He didn’t really understand why Kenny was apologising. He just held the blonde’s hand and walked home with him. They travelled silently through the dark, the area was too poor to afford proper lighting but Kenny knew the way home like a moth to a flame.

They entered the house and heard rats scurry away. He didn’t want to be back here, not after what happened in the morning but he felt safe with Kenny’s hand against his. They crawled into bed, Kenny was drained from working all day and was probably searching for him in a panic. He nudged Kenny’s face with the bread roll. “Thanks. I hope this isn’t drugged.” He chuckled as he munched on the food.

“He seemed nice.” It was purely a statement. He knew that how Tweek acted towards him might not have been real.

“You can’t trust adults. They use and abuse, they only care about themselves. It’s a tough world out there.” Once Kenny was finished with his food he wrapped his arms around his middle. He turned to Kenny so they could talk face to face. “You can’t trust anyone, they always want something.”

“Yeah? So, what do you want?” He said as he stared into the deep blue eyes that Kenny had.

“I just want your company, it’s worth more than anything else.” He was taken aback by Kenny’s words, but he wasn’t shocked.

“Me too, I don’t want you to go away. We even made that promise, so don’t leave me until we finish it.” Kenny pulled him and pressed his face against his chest, curled blonde hairs tickled his nose. 

“I promise. I won’t leave, I’ll always come back.” They stayed silent after that. He listened to Kenny’s breathing slowly become longer and deeper. He stared into the darkness until he fell asleep too. The two curled up close and slept with each other as company on a cold winter night.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posted two chapters in a row since I really wanted to introduce Tweek. Next chapter is in two weeks


	5. Abandoned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Craig is a liar
> 
> Craig

Craig woke up from the early morning light seeping into the room. The old residents took the curtains when they left. He slowly pushed himself up, it was strange to have his limbs only mildly sore. He shimmied himself over to the window and peeked out. The sun barely pushed out from behind the mountains. He watched his warm breath condense on the cold window he used his numb finger to draw a cat. It wasn’t great but he liked it.

He turned to Kenny who was still fast asleep with crumbs littering his face. It was the first time he saw Kenny asleep. Kenny always went to sleep after him and always woke up before him. He crawled his way back to the blond and poked at his face, he was met with a low grumble. He poked at the boy’s freckles, one by one. “No…” The other muttered while waving his hand weakly in front of his face, hoping it would deter his attacker.

Craig didn’t say anything, he preferred when Kenny spoke first. Poking didn’t seem to be working so he got up and climbed onto the blond. With his cheek pressed against the other’s chest, he lightly slapped his face, wanting attention. “Morning Craig” Kenny chuckled quietly.

“Morning. Wake up.” He was happy to hear Kenny’s voice. Kenny still made no move to open his eyes or wake up any further. Craig grabbed the other’s hand and started nibbling at his fingers.

Kenny lazily opened his eyes and laugh wholeheartedly. “Come on, five minutes please.” He pulled his hand away and wiped it on the mattress.

“Wake the fuck up, I want to talk before you need to go to work.” He whined. Kenny sat up and pulled the black haired boy into his arms.

He let out a big bellowing yawn before resting his head on top of Craig’s. He nuzzled his cheek against inky black hair, it smelled clean and like coffee. “I’m awake now.” Dark blue eyes glanced towards the window. “I have a bit before I need to go to work”

“What are you doing now?” He asked, not happy to have his face squished between Kenny’s chest and head. He struggled a bit until the blond released him. Kenny fell back onto the bed with a chuckle.

“I’m working in a shitty Chinese restaurant now. I mostly just clean all day.” Now wide awake and happy to talk. Craig stayed sitting up, it was the comfortable option. Kenny could feel the springs digging into his back but he was used to it.

“Sounds boring.” Craig slowly got up, renewed vigor let him freely walk around. “God, I hate this house so much.” He poked at some mold on the wall before smearing his name through it. He wiped his hand on some dusty section of the wall and returned to the blond’s side.

“When we head out on our mission then we won’t need to live here anymore.” Kenny grinned up at him brightly.

Craig chuckled, his voice bubbly. “We can’t afford that.” Cheeks tinted lightly, he felt bright and happy like never before.

“I’ll work hard!” Kenny laughed loudly, messily. It was extremely great hearing Craig so active so early in the morning. At first, he was too quiet and timid when they first met and then he was too starved to have enough energy to talk. The blond pushed himself up and followed Craig as he explored the house. They stayed silent most of the time, Craig had explored every inch of the house already. They just wanted to spend time together and Craig wasn’t used to talking for long periods of time.

Kenny peeked outside to see the sun had made significant distance from where it used to be. It was time to go. Craig looked over and saw what Kenny was staring at. He looked at Kenny was a sad smile. “I’ll see you after work then.” Craig began removing the jacket but Kenny’s hand stopped him. “What?”

“I’m working indoors now, you keep it. So, you have something to remind you of me while I’m gone.” Kenny stated seriously. Craig stared at him blankly before bursting into laughter. Tears formed in the corners from how hard he was bellowing out.

“Oh God, that’s so lame. I think I’m going to puke!” He was struggling to breathe, his face was red and tears were running down his cheeks. Eventually his breathing slowing down, as he calmed down from his laughter high. “But seriously, you don’t need to worry about me.” 

“I can’t help it. I can’t protect you when I’m working, I worry.” Craig figured this wasn’t the best time to tell Kenny that he nearly died yesterday and went completely insane from starvation. He’s never really had anyone worry about him before, it was strange. It made him feel shameful to have Kenny stress over him. No response came out. Kenny watched Craig’s flustered reaction. “I need to go, please make sure you stay inside this time.”

“I’ll be right here when you come back.” Craig replied without much thought, his mind was muddled. He watched Kenny hesitantly lift his hand. He followed Kenny to the front door and watched the blond leave with the thump of the closing door. He spun back to observe the house, it felt bizarre being alone in here again after what happened previously.

It was empty, only Kenny’s bed suggested that anyone even lived here. He walked back into the bedroom and peeked outside. Kenny was gone, out of view with only his foot prints left behind but they’d soon be covered with other footsteps or new snow. There was a strong sense of isolation that filled his chest but he ignored it for the most part, he told Kenny he would be fine on his own. There wasn’t even clothes anywhere, everything they owned was the mattress and the clothes they wore.

That’s when it hit him, Tweek still had his clothes. He said that he could pick it up. Craig didn’t really care about the clothes that much but it was a good excuse for him to leave the house without feeling guilty.

He marched outside by himself and not being affected by hunger induced hallucinations. There was something freeing about having the cold damp air brush his lungs and the snow burrowing into his old trainers. He kicked some snow as he chuckled but something in the corner of his eyes caught his attention. He didn’t turn his head, not wanting to let the other know that he’d noticed. He remembered Kenny’s warning about how he would get kidnapped and have his organs sold if he wasn’t careful.

He stopped messing around and cautiously made his way to the town. He let out a sigh of relief as he slipped into a crowd. He glanced around, he couldn’t remember where the bakery was. He was sick and when he left, it was too dark to see. He walked around aimlessly, trying to find the store.

A small noise caught his attention, he followed the sound into an alleyway. He didn’t see anything at first but then he heard more squeaks. He snuck over to the back wall, the sound was coming from behind a large wooden plank. There was a cat and her kittens.

The small kittens were meowing at their mother, pawing at her stomach for milk while snuggling against their mother for warmth. Craig smiled at the sight, but it quickly dropped when he saw one of the kittens was smaller and a few inches away from its mother. It meowed weakly for attention that it wasn’t getting, the mother was too busy with her other kittens to notice. He picked up the small kitten and helped it to get closer to its mother but its siblings easily overcrowded it.

This kitten was clearly the runt of the litter and wasn’t going to survive if left alone so he started stripping of his top layers. He took off his jacket and then the green tshirt. He shivered from the cold, his trembling fingers wrapped the kitten into the warm bundle that was the body warmed shirt. The kitten meowed weakly and began pawing at the shirt, thinking it was its mother. He decided to keep the kitten, it was fragile and blind. It needed to be taken care of. The other kittens seemed like they’d do fine with their mom.

He was back on his mission to find the baker but now with an added companion and a new goal, a real one. He needed to get food for the kitten, Tweek could help him feed the baby. He eventually caught the familiar scent of freshly baked bread and followed it. He was happy to see the store front again. Tweek’s bakery. The moment he pushed the door open he was met with the warm air of the interior, it seeped into his body the instant it touched his skin.

He spotted the wild blond haired man filling a display with new loafs. He ran over, almost bumping into the baker as he turned. “Oh, you’re back.” Tweek spoke softly with a smile and then his eyes drifted to the bundle in his arms. “What do you have there, Craig?” Adding Craig’s name at the end.

“I found a kitten while I was looking for the store.” He explained which cause Tweek to raise a brow. Craig smiled back sheepishly.

“You came back for your clothes, right?” He asked as he led Craig back to the counter.

Craig nodded and took this time to look around the bakery. Everything consisted of warm shades of brown and oranges with a few hints of green. There were knickknacks everywhere, it really felt like a place anyone could call home and he knew Tweek’s actual house which sat above the store was exactly the same.

Tweek grabbed a bread roll before they headed up the stairs and handed it to Craig who immediately took a big bite out of it, filling his mouth with as much as he could. Tweek saw and chuckled at his antics. He then pulled Craig’s shirt off a drying rack and handed it to him. Craig sniffed at it, it smelt like coffee and soap.

Craig plucked a chunk off his bread roll and attempted to feed the kitten some. Tweek went into panic mode and grabbed his hand before he could do any damage. He looked up at the blond with a confused expression but not confused enough to say anything.

“Kittens don’t eat bread, they need milk from their mom. You should return this kitten back to his mother.” Tweek said before letting go of Craig’s hand.

Craig ate the bread himself instead. “I can’t, the mama doesn’t look after it. And it’s too small to get food themself.” He looked up at Tweek with pleading eyes, the kind that got Kenny to do stuff for him that he learnt over the last few weeks. Tweek easily succumbed to his puppy eyes and pout and Craig was going to take advantage of that.

Tweek bit at his bottom lip. “Fine, you win. I’m going to close the shop for a bit since it’s not busy right now.” Tweek grabbed a jacket and put it on. “You’re lucky there’s a pet store only a few blocks away.”

Craig cheered happily to himself. Tweek sighed halfheartedly, mostly just amused. He wrapped Craig up in one of his smaller jackets, it still went past the boy’s knees. A warm small blanket was used to wrap the kitten. Craig’s old clothes was left on the table for later. He held out his hand for the boy to hold but Craig simply stared at it until Tweek withdrew his hand. “Let’s go then.” Craig silently followed with a spring in his steps, two steps to match one of Tweek’s long strides.

South Park only contained one small pet store, the two didn’t take long to reach it. Craig cringed at the strong scent, which Tweek chuckled at. While Tweek went to look for kitten formula, Craig found himself drifting towards where the animals were being kept. He observed a rabbit laying in its pen and waved at it. He quickly got bored and moved onto the next pen. He spotted some small creatures. Once they notice him, they skittered around which caused him to jump back in surprise.

He peeked inside and spotted guinea pigs, pressed his small fingers against the glass and watched the energetic creatures in awe. The small creatures eventually learnt to ignore the small child and hurried around and chewed on hay.

Eventually Tweek came back with some powered formula, “Let’s head back before the lunch rush comes.” He tore his eyes away and obediently followed. “Did you think of a name yet?” Tweek asked as he opened the door for him.

Craig nodded in response. “Stripe.” He stated simply.

Tweek glanced down at the bundle in the boy’s hands before his eyes flickered up to his face. He couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not. “Are you sure? He doesn’t even have any stripes.”

“Yup.” He grinned happily at the blanket bundle in his arms. Once they reached the bakery Tweek opened the shop again. Tweek quickly rushed to the back to check on the ovens, they only left for about ten minutes, but he was paranoid.

“Craig, do me a favor and man the counter while I prep more bread.” Tweek shouted from the back. He sat himself on the counter chair and waited. Tweek came back with a bottle in hand. “Here, feed the kitten carefully while I go and bake. If anyone comes just tell them I’ll be there soon and call me.” With Craig nodding in response, Tweek fled back.

He gently unbundled the kitten and laid it on his lap. After, he bumped its little maw with the bottle tip. Stripe happily accepted the food. He perked up when he heard the door bell ring, it was an officer. Startled, Craig hopped down with the kitten in his arms and ran to the back room. “Sir, there’s a policeman.”

“Thanks kiddo. Watch this bread while I deal with him.” Tweek patted his head and ruffled his hair before leaving. He stood shocked for a bit before smoothing his hair back down and watching the oven as instructed. Once Stripe had finished his milk, he sat himself in front of the oven and enjoyed its warmth. It didn’t take long for the baker to return, he wordlessly pulled the bread out and set them on a cooling rack. Craig watched with mild interest until Tweek left the room again.

He watched the small kitten in his arms fall asleep until he heard foot steps approaching again. Tweek arrived with a small bag in his arms. “I-I got your clothes. I’ll set them on the table along with the supplies for the kitten so you can take them home when you leave. I put some extra breadrolls too.”

“I don’t have any money mister.” Kenny carried all their money because he didn’t have any pockets unless he was wearing the jacket. Kenny tended to carry everything in his pants pockets for safety.

Tweek simply walked up to him and ruffled his hair again. “It’s on the house, just be careful.” He watched the baker’s cheek twitch slightly, barely noticeable. Tweek explained to him how to mix the kitten milk and when to do it. Satisfied, he returned to work.

He stayed planted in front of the oven, drifting from watching the kitten in his arms to watching the oven. It was rather lethargic to observe Tweek wander in and out of the room, doing small tasks before leaving. Occasionally he’d ruffle his hair before disappearing.

It was getting late so he forced himself up and changed his clothes back. They were too small for him but that hardly mattered, he didn’t want to take Tweek’s clothes, they didn’t belong to him. Once back in his old clothes he neatly folded Tweek’s clothes and began to head back home. He hesitantly waved Tweek a farewell as the other was busy at the counter. The baker happily waved back before returning his attention to a customer.

He exited the store, met with the cold but with a new companion in his arms. He made the long trek home, still light enough that he felt somewhat safe as he got closer to the house. He noticed though, people were watching him as the house came into view. He calculated every move carefully, if there were any sudden movements he knew where to run. There wasn’t a step wasted as he walked up to the house. There was no break once he reached the house, this was probably the most dangerous part. His back towards the world. Kenny taught him how to unlock the door, he made swift work of it and quickly locked it behind himself.

Once he was safely inside he leaned against the door and dropped to the ground slowly. He let out a sigh of relief. He peeked down at the bundle in his arms, poked the kitten’s nose before heading to the bedroom. Entering the bedroom brought back bad memories but he walked in regardless. He stationed himself in front of the window and placed Stripe in his lap. He munched on some bread as he observed the world below. He munched on the bread until it became like sand in his mouth. He poked his head into the bag, there was a bottle of water but he was going to reserve that for the kitten. He kept a mental note to collect some snow later.

Hours drifted by as he aimlessly stared out of the window, he had it down like a fine art. The only times he’d move from his zombie like state was when he needed to feed the kitten and when he had enough saliva to take another bite of bread. He perked up when he saw a small blue spot in the distance. He stood, kitten in arms as he bounced between one foot to the other. The small feline meowed at the movement. He watched Kenny slowly walk to the house, he noticed Craig watching him and grinned upwards as he opened he door. Craig moved away from the window and listen to the sound of the door being clicked shut. He swayed impatiently as Kenny’s footsteps creaked closer.

Kenny tilted his head into the room, “I’m home.” He smiled as brightly as his words. His eyes shifted to the small bundle in Craig’s arms. His mind went into analysis mode. His noticed Craig was back in his old clothes and there was a small bag at the back of the room. Craig knew Kenny would figure out he went back to Tweek’s so he didn’t bother hiding anything. “What do you have there buddy?” He asked as he entered the room.

Craig rushed over to him and handed him the bundle. Kenny watched his movements and how he held the bundle and seemed to realise it was a fragile thing so held it lightly. He watched Kenny peel some of the blanket flaps out of the way. “It’s a kitten.”

“Tweek brought the food for me so don’t worry and he gave me some bread.” He pulled Kenny to the mattress. He laid down, placed the kitten safely besides them, ready to sleep. He grabbed the bread roll and handed it to Kenny, who’s smile faulted for a moment. There was a look in his eyes that Craig learned to recognise, sometimes Kenny would get stuck in his own thoughts. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Kenny’s tone was uncharacteristically flat. He was even avoiding eye contact with him.

He placed his hand on top of Kenny and the blond closed his fingers almost instinctively. “You wouldn’t lie to me right?”

Kenny rolled onto his back and averted his eyes to the ceiling. “You’re right. I shouldn’t lie to you.” He rested the roll on his chest and picked at the little lumps in the crust with his free hand. “I’m selfish.”

“You’re not selfish.” Craig stated it as fact.

Kenny sighed, rocked his head to the side. “I knew you’d think that.” He moved his free hand to his hair, tangling fingers through dirty blond locks. “That baker guy, he gives you food, he can take care of you in ways I can’t.” Craig tried to say something but Kenny interrupted him. “I should want you to stay with him. I’m sure if you asked he’d let you stay with him and I want that for you but a part of me doesn’t want you to. A part of me wants you to stay with me.”

“I do want to stay with you. I would never leave you behind.” He heard Kenny inhale deeply before turning to him, tears running down his cheeks. He let go on Kenny’s hand and pulled him into a tight embrace. Kenny sobbed against his chest, small hands clenching their jacket. He let Kenny weep. 

He thought that he needed Kenny to survive, that he was dependent on someone who could look after himself. But Kenny was also a lonely kid with no one to turn to. They came from different backgrounds but right now, they were the same. They both needed each other. He held Kenny close until they both fell asleep.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always loved


	6. Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another day passes, another day alive
> 
> Kenny

He woke to a small high pitched squeaking, he groaned until he could will his eyes open. The squealing persisted and he found his face buried against an orange jacket. He pulled himself out of Craig’s hold, the other was still asleep, drooling all over the jacket’s sleeve. Kenny poked at his sleeping face, he woke up all dazed and confused.

“Your baby keeps squeaking.” He chuckled when Craig stared at him with an utterly confused expression until the small kitten squealed again, with that Craig rushed to his feet to get the milk prepped. Kenny propped himself up and watched. It was still too early for work, so he had time to spare. Craig soon returned to the bed with the kitten on his lap and feeding it with a small bottle. “What are you calling it?”

“Stripe.” Craig said happily.

“Craig, he doesn’t ha-” He started but Craig glared at him.

“I know.” Craig interrupted. He was pouting which caused him to laugh and pulled the black haired boy into his arms. Craig was not amused, he hissed after too much pestering. He decided to leave Craig alone for a bit.

He took this chance to look outside, get some fresh air. He skipped over to the window and opened it slightly. It was still early morning, the sky was painted in orange which happened to be his favourite colour. He was doodling a winged boy on the glass until he spotted something strange, some black SUVs were parking a few meters from the house. Kenny’s train of thought came to a crashing halt. Adrenaline pumped into his blood as he continued to observe, he couldn’t panic yet.  

Another Van pulled up even closer to the house, that was it, there was no mistake what it is. He ducked his head out of sight and crouched over to Craig who had just finished feeding the kitten. He tossed him a confused look, not understanding why he was hunched down. “We need to get out of here.” Craig blinked in alarm at the seriousness of his tone and nodded obediently.

He grabbed Craig’s supply bag before pulling Craig out of the room by the sleeve. They hurried down the stairs. Kenny stayed alert, trying to ignore the worry building in his mind. Craig seemed panicked but he stayed silent with the small bundle in his arms. He came to a sudden stop at the bottom of the staircase, which spooked Craig. The two went deadly still, they could hear rushed, heavy foot steps and deep voices coming from the front of the house, just outside.

Kenny pulled Craig back up the stairs, they wouldn’t be able to outrun them if they were caught. He quickly scanned his room. He ushered Craig into the wardrobe and closed the doors behind them. They were plunged into darkness, he felt around until he found Craig’s hand and held it tightly. Craig nearly jerked his hand away when they heard the front door get kicked in and slammed against the floor. “Find Stuart, he’s got to be here somewhere!” They heard someone shout. Craig went still while Kenny watched from the sliver between the two doors.

They were searching through all the rooms. Craig pulled himself closer, shaking. He’d probably never been in a situation like this before. He clung onto his shirt with his free hand.

“Looks like he up and left.” They heard a grunt say.

“He owes us a lot of money, we’ll make his life hell when we find him.” The man from earlier groaned, clearly the leader. “Let’s go boys.” Kenny felt relief fill his mind once the foot steps started heading out.

Meow.

He felt his blood run cold. Everything went silent and still. Stripe started meowing in need, Craig was trying his best to silence the kitten in the darkness which only caused the small creature to squeal more. He could see some men enter the room, searching for the source of the noise. It didn’t take long for them to be found, the door was forced open.

“Boss, we found some kids.” One of the three grunts shouted. Craig tucked the kitten under his jacket and held it protectively as the two were dragged out. They were tossed onto the ground as a large man stepped into the room. He smelled like expensive cologne. He was tall, stocky and covered head to toe in a dark grey suit and gold.

“What do we have here? A pair of kids?” He said with his deep grunting voice, towering above them.

He had to make sure they got out of this. Craig kept a blank expression. He gulped, it was up to him to make sure they live. Their lives were on the line. “We’re just some lost kids that found this empty house.” The huge man slowly circled around them, lighting a cigar before stopping in front of him.

Kenny found his face being grabbed by the cheeks and forced to look up. Face to face and inches away from him, he could smell peppermint which was quickly being masked by the musk of smoke. “You’re Stuart’s kid.” He didn’t reply as that man did another walk around. “Where’s your dad kid?”

He bit his bottom lip, there was no point trying to hide it anymore. “I don’t know, they left me behind.”

The man tossed his cigar onto the ground without much thought. “He owes me a lot of money. A lot of money.” He repeated. How much did he even take?

“He would have taken everything with him.” He tried to reason. He found himself being knocked to the ground with a punch to the face. The jagged rings causing his face to bleed, his head rang when it hit the ground.

“Kenny!” He could make out Craig shouting. Their eyes met, Craig looked terrified.

He wasn’t the only one who noticed. That man walked over to him. “Friend of yours? Would hurting him help ring some bells about where you dad is?”

Craig eyes widened at that. “He’s just a friend from school, there’s no reason to involve him!” He screamed. He forced himself up and tried to make his way to Craig but a grunt held onto his arm. “We don’t know anything, please! We wouldn’t say anything, just leave us alone.” He begged.

The man looked between the two. “Shouldn’t you kids be in school?” The room went silent until the sound of a metallic click echoed through the room. Kenny was forced to watch him press a gun against Craig temple, Craig went deadly still. “Unless, he’s like you.” He finished. “Where are your parents?”, pressing the gun hard against Craig’s skull.

“I-I don’t have any.” Craig muttered as he shut his eyes tightly, he was trembling.

“Perfect.” He purred in a way that made Kenny sick to his stomach.

“Please leave him alone. Take me, I’ll do anything!” He desperately pleaded. “I don’t know anything, please!” He felt tears searing down his face.

The man laughed at him, amused. “As much I’d love to-” He laughed like he told the funniest joke ever. “I need to make at least some of my money back.” He laxly took out another cigar. “Men, grab the kids. We’ll sell one of them while we try to get information out of the other.”

One of the grunts easily picked up Craig. “Kenny!” He was screaming his name.

His fingers went cold, a second click rang through the room. He held his gun to his head, everyone looked shocked. “I’m sorry Craig, I’ll be sure to find where your body wanders off after.”

“What are you talking about? Kenny don’t!” Craig screamed, he tried to shake out of the man’s hold on him. He was going to save him and hopefully he’d forget the whole event.

He pulled the trigger before anyone could stop him. The bang couldn’t make it to his brain before the bullet. His mind rang like a heart monitor flatlining, his vision went dark before he saw a bright light. The last thing he felt was his body hitting the ground before he lost all sensation.

Kenny Mc’cormick was dead.

Slowly he started to regain his senses, He could make out the scent of his own blood. There was a strange sound, that he couldn’t quite comprehend. There was something warm touching his hand and chest. He could feel the hole in his head slowly shut. He willed his eyes open and was met with a blurry mess of black and orange. The sound he was hearing was slowly getting clearer, it sounded like crying.

“Kenny, oh god, why would you do this?” The voice was sobbing his name. Some clarity made him question what was happening. He’s never woken up to find someone with him, that was part of the curse. His mind was trying to figure out who it was.

His brain was nearly completely reformed. They were holding his hand and crying against his chest. He raised his free hand and touched the other’s face. “…Cra..ig…”

Craig raised his head, his tear soaked face became visible to him. He wanted to comfort him but he couldn’t move. “…Kenny?” Craig chocked, pulled him to a hug and sobbed. “Kenny, you’re alive! I thought you died!” He didn’t have enough energy to respond so he simply ran his fingers weakly through Craig’s hair. He could feel Craig’s warmth spread to his fingertips.

“Craig, why are you here?” He asked once he was completely revived and healed.

Craig lifted his head again. “What do you mean? I thought you were dead! After you shot yourself, I got dropped and everyone just left. I didn’t know what was happening!” He dropped his face into his hands, bawling.

“You remember me dying?” He was shocked, this was another first.

“Of course I remembered, I saw the whole thing. I-I was there.” Craig dropped his hands and gave Kenny a hard look before bringing them to where Kenny had shot himself, the hole was completely gone. He wiped the tears off his face which earned some small meowing from the kitten tucked in his jacket, his small head peeking out. “How?”

“I’m cursed. I can’t die, people walk away and forget. It happens a lot but this is the first time some has every stayed and remembered.” He paused and touched Craig’s tear stain face. “I’m sorry, I was thinking that you’d forget. I was going to find you and pick you up. You were never meant to see or recall any of this.”

Craig held his hand against his own. “It’s okay, I’m just relieved that you’re alive and alright.” He let go and wiped at his face more. “I’m glad I could at least be here when you woke up.” Kenny grinned brightly and Craig smiled back.

Kenny pushed himself up with a bit of struggle, he was always weak when he first comes back to life. “We need to get out of here. They probably forgot about us but they’ll be back once they remember they were meant to be doing something.” The other nodded, got up and offered his hand which Kenny gladly took. The two headed out of the house and walked as far as they could.

They found themselves at a newly brought store with familiar words sprayed on the front. They made their way into the alleyway besides the building. He watched Craig walk up to the old mural he drew and touched the now long dried paint. “It’s been a while.” He turned to Kenny with a grin. “My pee is still frozen over there.”

“Wow, you’re right.” Kenny was surprised it was still there but then again, it was still cold in this mountain town. They moved to the back of the alleyway, where Craig was seated for two days. He shoved snow out of the way to find damp cardboard, at least was better than sitting in the snow. He sat down and Craig sat next to him, neither minded that their butts were slowly getting soaked.

Craig made himself busy by tending to Stripe, he was being nosy because he needed to pee. Once he was done, he leaned against the wall with his kitten tucked back into the jacket. Stripe purred as Craig stroked his head. They stayed like that for a while, seated close for warmth. They just let time pass, he didn’t really feel like doing much and Craig seemed content. He couldn’t stop thinking over the events that took place, it played in his head over and over. He was thankful that Craig didn’t seem bother by everything that happened. The other was happily humming tunelessly besides him without a care in the world, that’s all he could ever hope for.

The sun was setting and it was beginning to get cold. “Come help me get some stuff.” And Craig silently trailed behind him. The pair made their way to a nearby store and stole some of their dry cardboard boxes. They made their get away with arms full of cardboard with Stripe meowing occasionally from where he was tucked in Craig’s jacket. Eventually they arrived back at their alleyway, he lined the ground with cardboard, over the old sheets.

The sun had set and the sky was blanketed with a black sheet, littered with stars. Their eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. Kenny laid down first, the ground was hard and uncomfortable but at least it was dry. Craig was going to lay besides him but he got pulled on top of Kenny. “This is warmer.” Craig rolled his eyes, he laid the back of his head against the blond’s chest. Kenny snaked his arms around Craig, resting his hands on the other’s tummy.

It didn’t take long for Craig to fall asleep first, his breathing slowed down and deepened. This left him with time to think. About what to do next and what laid in their future. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t picture it. The only thing he knew was that he was certain Craig would be with him in his future, he didn’t want to spend it with anyone else or alone. He stared up at the mural he created months ago before looking back down at his partner. A small bud of hope bloomed in his chest.

He sighed, they couldn’t live like this. There was no doubt that they would die if they stayed homeless like this but his old home was no longer an option. He thought about the last few days and his mind drifted to thoughts of the smaller bakery. He didn’t like the idea but at this point the only other options was dying from starvation or the cold, having Craig possibly getting killed or sold off during another drug raid. He’s going to have to give the bakery a try.

He closed his eyes, Craig still faintly smelled of coffee and soap then he quickly drifted into slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late cuz I'm a butt. What do you think of this version of Kenny's ressurection?


	7. Tweek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A home is more than a roof over your head
> 
> The Tweek Mini arc begins
> 
> Craig

There was something poking at his face when he woke up, he groaned before opening his eyes. It was still dark, he poked at his eyes to find hands covering them. He promptly elbowed the blond beneath him in the ribs.

“Ow ow! I give!” Kenny let go.

“Idiot.” He muttered as he stroked Stripe’s head, Kenny simply laughed it off. He stared at the sky for a few moments before forcing himself up. His body was sore all over, maybe sleeping on top of each other wasn’t the best idea. He stretched his arms up high, trying to relieve some of the tension from his muscles. Kenny pushed him forward, his spine was not happy with the angle. “Kenny.” He whined.

“How far can you stretch?” Kenny chuckled, pushing on his back slightly more.

“I’m dying.” He complained jokingly. Kenny reluctantly released as he fell back with laughter, Craig rolled his eyes as he got up. He flipped his partner off with both of his hands and earned some back. “Dick.”

“I can’t say that isn’t true.” Kenny effortlessly rolled onto his feet before standing up himself. He confidently walked over to where Craig stood before running a hand across his bare arm. eyes peered up at the mural that stared down at them. “I’m not really sure where to go from here. We can’t go back to the house, it’s too dangerous.”

They both stood there silently with only small noises from Stripe to keep them grounded. Craig was the one to break the silence, he felt like something changed between them. Something that made him feel colder than the bitter winter air. “Kenny… I’m out of water.” He lied, there was a bit left in the bottle that was tucked in the plastic bag he carried. His hand instinctively moved to pet Stripe’s face, he bit his lip as images flashed through his head. Red. Red.

“I think we should try asking that baker guy if he can take us in for now.” Kenny’s voice sounded after minutes of thought. The blond held onto his unoccupied hand, he couldn’t help but look back at the other.

“Are you sure?” He asked knowing Kenny was uncertain about the whole thing by the nervous way he looked and how he loosely held onto his hand. Though personally, he wouldn’t mind seeing Tweek again.

Kenny’s expression hardened slightly, like a spark had gone off in his mind. “This is for the best…” Words seemed to be caught at the end but he didn’t seem to want to finish that sentence. Craig didn’t understand what he was trying to imply or say, thoughts were getting jumbled in his head. He wanted to ask Kenny to explain what he meant but stayed silent about it.

“If you say so.” He muttered back as a reply.

Kenny led the pair, he knew the area better. Craig recalled the countless days he spent hidden in his bedroom, hidden from the world outside, hidden from his parents. His eyes trailed down to their hands that now clung tightly before carrying his eyes up to Kenny’s face. Expressive. Alive.

He knew they reached their destination when he could smell caramelized bread. They stopped in front of the window display suddenly. There wasn’t much warning, Craig almost walked into the other. He watched Kenny take a few deep breaths, getting ready. Craig looked into the store to see Tweek was serving a customer. After a moment more, Kenny led them in. As soon as they walked in Kenny’s expression seemed to change, Craig didn’t know if that was a good thing or bad thing.

They stood back until the customer had left before Kenny brought them over to the counter. Craig’s attention was immediately drawn to the cakes on display, he thought Tweek only made bread. Craig tried to let go of Kenny’s hand to get a look, but Kenny held onto it tightly. It was getting warm and sweaty. Tweek was watching the entire time.

“H-Hey Craig, you brought your friend with you.” Tweek twitched slightly at the start. Craig noticed he slightly twitched a lot. He pulled back his hand again and again Kenny refused to let go, he had to settle for standing next to Kenny while he talked to Tweek.

“It’s Kenny…” Kenny gulped, looked at him briefly before turning his eyes back to Tweek. “Actually, I was hoping you’d let me and Craig stay for a bit.” Craig noticed Tweek twitch again, less subtle than other times.

“Umm.” Was all he could manage.

“Please, it’ll just be for a few days until me and Craig can find a new place.” He squeezed Craig’s hand. Craig kept looking between the two, he felt a little left out. It didn’t feel bad, just confusing.

There was a long pause where nobody said anything. Kenny’s hand was becoming increasingly warm and sweaty while Tweek was biting at his bottom lip.

“Okay. You can stay tonight, I just need to think about a few things.” His voice even and calm.

Craig cheered and lifted their joined hands joyfully. Kenny couldn’t help but smile. He finally managed to escape the blond’s hold and wandered to the back room. He happily sat next to the ovens for the alluring smell and homely warmth. Once he soaked it all in, he made Stripe his food before Kenny joined him. They sat there for a while, just enjoying each other’s presence.

Craig easily felt the hours drift by,  familiar with Tweek drifting in and out. This time he felt grounded with Kenny at his side. A chain that stopped him from drifting into space.

Tweek came back, “What do you two like in your sandwiches?” He asked with a soft smile. It was different from the fake smiles his parents would give when they had guests over. He let Kenny speak first.

“Cheese please!” That was Kenny’s request.

He thought about it for a bit before replying, “Tuna.”

They watched as Tweek prepared their food, Craig was surprised to see that Tweek was using his bread rather than the normal store brought white bread. His knife cut a fresh loaf into slices. It didn’t go unnoticed that Tweek was slipping tomatoes into Kenny’s sandwich and lettuce into his. He placed their sandwiches on some plates before making more sandwiches for the shop counter. Craig stared at his food. Years of store brought sandwiches because his parents didn’t make him food, years of having to steal money from their coat pockets. He’s never seen sandwiches like these.

Tweek ruffled their hair before leaving with an armful of packaged sandwiches. The two were quickly back on the ground but with their plates on their laps. They lazily munched on their food as they poked fun at each other.

They spent the rest of the afternoon messing with each other. At some point they were at the counter helping Tweek. Tweek seemed to appreciate the additional help. Kenny made conversation with some of the customers, showing off his boyish charm which some of the customers found amusing, especially the women.

“I think I was wrong, Craig.” Kenny said randomly.

“I’m always right but what was I right about this time?” He asked as he watched Tweek walk to the back room.

“Tweek, he’s an alright guy.” Kenny admitted with a yawn. They both took in the warm light of the evening sky, the room was filled with an orange hue. The blond lazily turned to him with a toothy grin, blond hair bathed in a warm glow.

“He’s okay.” Craig chuckled and smiled before closing his eyes. There was a strange feeling filling his mind, a strange sense of normalcy. It was all confusing to him, so many things have happened in such a short amount of time. He felt like he was drifting. He felt Kenny hold onto his hand.

“Let’s head to bed buddy.” Kenny whispered quietly. He gently led the two over to Tweek who was packing some of the food. “Do we have somewhere we can sleep?”

Tweek looked up from his task, “Sure, there’s a spare room you two can use.” Before the pair left, Craig watched Tweek whisper something to Kenny. The blond frowned before nodding, after the two made their way to the spare room. The bed was easily big enough for the both of them. Craig looked around with a keen eye. The room was decorated with the same aesthetics as the rest of the building: Wooden panels, potted succulents, soft brown furniture and caramel coloured covers.

They took off their shoes and entered the room. They made their way to the bed with a bit of jabbing and laughter that echoed around the room. Craig laid Stripe between two pillows, he was getting a lot stronger. “What did he say to you?” Craig asked as he tucked himself in, shuffling to find the best position. It was a million times better than the shitty mattress at their old place.

“Not much, just told me to make sure you took off your shoes before you went into his nice room.” Kenny explained. Their hands were intertwined again.

“Says the stinky one, you need a bath.” He blurted out in joyous laughter before settling again. Craig found his eyes drooping.

“We can start looking for a new home tomorrow.” Kenny muttered softly. “Maybe if we look hard enough, we can find an island just for the two of us.”

Craig willed his eyes open, his voice was carrying a fading tone. “… I don’t care where we go, as long as I’m with you. Then I’ll always have a place I can call home.” His eyes dropped closed again and he couldn’t open them up again. He felt Kenny squeeze his hand.

“As long as I’m with you, I’ll have a home too. What’s the point of living on an island without you with me, by my side.” Craig barely heard the last part before falling asleep.

He was sudden awoken, he instantly shot up and found himself alone in the bed. Kenny’s side of the bed was still warm, he could hear footstep going down the stairs. He carefully got out of the bed and followed him, stayed out of sight as he went down the stairs. He could hear Kenny and Tweek in the back room. He walked up to the door and stayed just out of view and listened.

Tweek’s voice came first, “I’ve been thinking and I think it’s best if I call a foster care center for you two.” Craig stared down at the ground, he never really thought about foster care. He always assumed he’d live with Kenny for the rest of his life.

“We don’t need those guy’s help, if we can’t stay here then we’ll just leave!” Kenny was furious, his voice was steeping with anger and hate. Craig prepared himself to run for the stairs if Kenny decided to storm out of the room.

Tweek spoke up before anyone could move, “You must understand that I’m doing what I think is best for the both of you. A foster family can take care of you, I don’t have the resources or skills to house the both of you.” Would they though? Craig recalled Kenny telling him not to trust other people, he didn’t want to end up with bad parents again.

Kenny raised his voice more. “You don’t understand, me and Craig aren’t related. They’ll separate us, who would reasonably take us both in. Other people don’t understand Craig like I do, they don’t know how to look after him.” Hearing that made Craig feel uncomfortable, he didn’t want to be all alone again. He grew used to Kenny’s company, he didn’t think he could handle being separated and isolated again.

“They have people who know how to look after children with his condition. You’re just kids, you can’t live with me or in the streets. This is the best for Craig.” He didn’t really understand what Tweek was talking about.

Kenny’s voice came out meek. “I can’t.” He paused, then there was a whimper. Craig peeked in to find tears running down Kenny’s face. “It’s me who can't live with the separation. Craig should get the happy family he deserves but I don’t want to go on without him. I don’t want to be alone anymore, I can’t take it.” His voice wavered.

“Kenny…” Tweek was barely audible.

Kenny sniffled, likely wiping his eyes. “For the first time in my life, I feel whole. I feel like a person. If you can’t keep us, please just let us keep living our lives together.” Craig’s vision blurred and found himself tearing up. He brushed his sleeves across his face before they could drip down his face.

“No… You can stay.” Tweek took a step closer to Kenny. “I don’t know exactly how you feel but I know how it is to grow up feeling alone with a shitty family.”

“Really?” Kenny’s voice was slowly returning to normal.

“My parents had my whole life planned out for me. I wasn’t allowed to do anything against their will. So when I was eighteen, I ran away.” Tweek’s voice developed a lighthearted tone. “Honestly, I wish I didn’t have to do it all alone.”

“Thanks, it means a lot.” Kenny replied quietly.

“I don’t know how long I can look after you two, I’m sort of breaking the law by not sending you to foster care.” Craig peeked in and saw the two sharing a hug. With a quick smile to himself he silently made his way up the stairs with voices murmuring in the background. He slipped into the bed and pretended to sleep. Kenny’s footsteps creaked as he walked into the room and climbed into the bed. He wrapped arms around him, after a few serene minutes, they were both asleep.

\-----------

 

The shop opened late the next day so Tweek decided to spend some time with them before the shop opened. He baked some simple sugar cookies for them to decorate, with a large assortment of colours. Craig tried to peek at what the other two were making but both were hiding theirs, he simply huffed in annoyance as he finished his.

“What’s that Craig? Is that a blue blob?” Kenny asked from his right. He responded first by elbowing the other in the ribs, which set him off into a fit of laughter.

“It’s meant to be me, dickhead.” He gave Kenny the double bird which only rewarded him with further laughter.

Tweek peered over from his spot, on the other side of Kenny. “I think it looks great. Very cute.”

Craig shoved Kenny off his stool and stole his spot. He took a good look at Tweek and Kenny’s creations. He was a bit ashamed at both of their superior artist skill. Kenny’s one was reminiscent of his graffiti art, it had the same winged character that represented the blond. Tweek’s one was a cartoon version of himself, with wild blond hair, round eyes and his green shirt. Perfect for a cookie. Tweek seemed to notice his discouragement and raffled his hair. “Personally, I think yours is the best.” He placed the three cookies onto a plate together. “What a perfect set.”

Craig stared at the three side by side. All different but seemed to work together. “It’s strange.”

Kenny climbed onto the seat with him. “But that’s what makes it perfect.” He gave Craig a toothy grin and Craig rolled his eyes in return. 

“Alright, get out of here. I need to get the shop ready for work.” Tweek said sternly but with a big lopsided grin. The two boy ran upstairs giggling.

 

 


	8. Birthday boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A small boy in a small box because that's all his knew as voices rang through his head

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late, I was busy with events.
> 
> Also thanks BB for proofing this chapter and the last one, you are the true hero.

 

A few months had passed since they first started living with Tweek. In Kenny’s opinion, Tweek was like the best big brother he could have ever imagined, no offence to Kevin but he was sort of a bad older brother. After a while, the three fell into a nice routine. They’d greet Tweek in the morning to set off on some mini adventures and when they returned, Tweek would send them to the bath and they’d eat dinner together.

The pair were finally off the bread diet once Tweek figured their organs wouldn’t fail on them. Tweek was the best cook that Kenny had ever met, he surprisingly cooked more than bread. Sometimes they didn’t feel like adventuring and they’d help around in the bakery. He paid them when they helped him, which helped them pay for more spray cans. Though he never told Craig, he was secretly saving up for their adventure to every state. Craig on the other hand, spent all his money on Stripe.

However, this morning was different. Kenny found himself alone in the bed. He tried not to go into a panic, Craig was probably just in the toilet but as the minutes dragged on, he went looking for the other. He peered into every room and couldn’t spot the black haired boy. When he went downstairs, he asked Tweek if he’d seen Craig which the baker replied with. “I haven’t seen him at all today.”

He rushed upstairs to grab a jacket and start looking for Craig when he heard something coming from the closet, he almost missed it. He opened the door to find Craig in the back corner, tucked into a foetus position. He hid his face from the light and whimpered. His body was shaking and he was starting to sob. “Craig, what’s going on?”

Craig flinched at his voice and cried. New tears ran over his stained cheeks. He was taken aback at first, he collected his thoughts. He approached slowly and kept his voice soft. “Craig, are you alright?” He gingerly rested his hand on Craig’s shoulder, which caused the other to visually relax slightly.

Craig attempted to respond but all he managed was a pathetic whimper before going back to sniffling. Kenny took initiative and pulled the other out. He tried to be as delicate as he could until he had his arms wrapped around Craig. The other cried against his shirt. They stayed like that until Craig settled. He muttered, “I’m sorry.” He repeated over and over like a prayer. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’m here, you don’t need to be sorry about anything.” He ran his hands through Craig’s hair. This went on until Craig calmed down and was staring vacantly at the ground. “What’s wrong Craig?”

“It’s my birthday.” Craig replied weakly, like he was expecting to be scolded for his words.

Kenny was puzzled but kept his words soft. “What’s wrong with that?”

“It’s the worst day of the year… I normally get shouted at all day so now I hide for the whole day when it comes.” Craig slipped out before more tears dripped down his face.

Kenny reached over and grabbed a jacket. “Let’s get out of here.” He said before wrapping the other in it. He forced Craig up and pulled him along.

“Where are we going?” Craig wondered aloud as they rushed down the stairs. They two tumbled out into the kitchen. Kenny winked at him instead of replying as he approached a confused baker.

“Can I borrow some money? It’s Craig’s birthday.” He informed.

Tweek stood back, shocked. “Oh, I didn’t realize. I would have prepared something.” He made his way to his drawer where he had a hidden compartment. He took out a few bills and handed it to Kenny. “You kids should go out and have fun, I’d help but I have work.” He added, clearly feeling bad about not knowing.

Craig looked like he felt bad too but didn’t say anything. Kenny help him by leading him out of the room. Craig simply held onto his sleeve as they walked. “This is going to be your best birthday yet!” Kenny grinned. The snow was starting to lessen to make way for Spring, the ground was a grey slush. There was something about the grey morning sky that put the two at ease as they skitted their way across the town.

Craig’s eyes glowed with wonder as they headed towards the entertainment center of the town. They entered the building bright eyed and eager. For both, it was their first time. The pair made their way to the back of the building, passing by the slowly failing arcade. “Laser tag.” Craig read aloud with a giddy smile.

“We can work as a pair.” Kenny whispered as he handed the bored teenager at the register some money. She let out a huff, left and returned with the equipment they’d need. The two rushed in to get suited up. Craig helped the blond when he was spotted struggling to make sense of the suit. “Let’s crush everyone” he whispered gleefully.

“You better cover me.” Craig whispered back. The two sat down and waited until the room was slowly filled with other players. Once the long boring rules were told to them, the pair made their way to their post. At the sound of a whistle the doors were opened. Music was blaring in their ears as they entered the battle ground. Bright lights stunned them for a moment before a competitive flame lit at their cores.

Craig was quick to take cover and pulled Kenny down along with him. They surveyed the area, the room was dark with spotlights shooting around the room. Occasional lasers shot across the area, other kids were hidden by the cover of darkness. Kenny was trying to formulate a plan until he felt Craig poke his arm. “Look up there.” Craig pointed at one of the two towers in the large room. “If we can get up there we can get a height advantage.”

Kenny noticed the lack of lasers coming from atop of it, “Good call.” Neither of the towers were practically close and the path to getting there was riddled with dangers. “Let’s do it!” Kenny shouted about the music. The two were up, staying pressed against the walls as they moved. Clickers were going off around them, people were being shot. He could make out a quiet thumping sound that was barely audible above the chaotic noise. He pulled out his gun when another suddenly rounded the corner. Before Craig could even pull up his gun, Kenny had pulled his trigger.

A loud beep sounded, and the boy was out as his suit glowed a bright red. “Fuck.” The boy walked off defeated. The two quickly pulled back as others were drawn to the sound of a killing beep.

“Thanks.” Craig mouthed silently as they changed their route. They ended up circling back to where they’d previously been. Craig opened fired at the people who went looking for them, knocking some people down to a single counter and knocking some others out. Kenny swung his gun up and cleared out the rest.

“Working as a team of four, how unfair.” Kenny chuckled to his partner. Craig joined in before they were back on their way. They were caught off guard from behind by another pair, they ducked for cover but not before the sound of both of their counters going down to one each. “Shit.” Kenny muttered.

“What’s the plan?” Craig asked as he glanced around for an escape route. “If we head in any direction they’ll hit our backs.” Panic was setting in as the other team were approaching, unseen but certainly known.

“We charge them.” Kenny declared as he readied his gun.

Craig stared back in shock, “That’s so risky!” Who quickly rushed to get his own gun ready.

“The element of surprise will do us well.” Kenny lead with a grin as the two emerged from their hiding spot, shooting wildly towards the other boys. Craig managed to knock out one of the boys while they were stunned. The other’s partner quickly raised his gun, ready to retaliate. Kenny took this moment to push Craig to the side. A loud beep ran through the air as Kenny’s suit turned red. Craig shot down the last remaining counter of the other’s suit before addressing his partner.

“Why’d you do that?” Craig looked down at Kenny who was laying dramatically on the ground. Eyes closed and tongue out, pretending to be dead.

“Please avenge me Craig, you’re our last hope.” Kenny moaned in fake pain, which Craig simply scoffed at. “I sacrificed my life because you have that clever bean brain of yours, do me proud partner.” With that Kenny went back to pretending to be dead.

“Always leaving me to do all of the thinking.” Craig chuckled before going back to the plan of claiming the tower. He kept his head low and slowly maneuvered himself towards his goal. He didn’t encounter much, likely due to most of the players getting knocked out.

He cautiously climbed up, he glanced down to see the whole battlefield before him. He felt like a king among men as he could make out some of the other players taking cover and hiding. He took aim, it was going to be tricky from across the room. He took deep breaths and thought about how proud Kenny will be in the waiting room. He shot one person out and everything was set in motion. People were aware of where he was and were slowly making their way towards him.

He knocked out someone who got a little too brave with their approach. There were three people heading towards him. He quickly abandoned his post, climbed down from the tower and went into hiding. He heard one death counter go off from a distance. From what he saw, there were only two other players left. He watched someone approach the ladder of the tower and was quick to shoot them twice rapidly to knock them out.

There was only him and one other player left. He turned a corner and spotted the other player, their eyes met. There was a stagnant moment. Craig recalled some advice a certain dumb blond gave him. He screamed and charged towards the other person. Brought into a sudden sense of panic, the other shot wildly, unable to hit the speedy dark haired boy. While running Craig steadied his gun and landed a single perfect shot to the chest. A death buzzer went off moments before a cheerful victory jingle came from his own suit.

The adrenaline started to die down, he simply sat on the ground as Kenny rushed over to give the sweaty boy a hug. “You won!”

“Birthday luck.” Craig laughed tiredly as Kenny helped him up.

Once they back in their regular clothes, the cold early spring air was refreshing against their sweaty faces. Kenny paid someone to buy them a new spray can, and they were off. They found themselves a good alleyway to settle themselves in. Kenny took any requests from the birthday boy until it got too dark to draw and too cold to handle.

They made their way back to the bakery where Tweek greeted them. “I got some stuff in the back that I need help with.” The two scurried to follow him. The room was dark when they entered until Tweek flicked the light on. There was a table in the middle of the room, surround by balloons and a cake place nicely upon it. “It isn’t the best set up but it was the best I could do while working.”

Craig stood shocked for an instant before making his way to the table. There he could see the cake. It was decorated a pale blue with Tweek’s neat curly writing spelling, ‘Happy Birthday Craig’. He looked to see Kenny grinning and Tweek recording on his phone. “How old are you now Craig?”

Craig knew Tweek already knew the answer, but it would stamp the video as a time capsule. “I’m eleven now.” He smiled the brightest he’s had in his entire eleven years of life. Kenny hopped over and stood next to him. He placed the candles into the cake and joined in the smiling for pictures. Tweek lit the candles and the two blonds started singing. His emotions betrayed him as he began to cry, smile as wide as ever.

“Make a wish and blowout the candle.” Kenny whispered. He looked down at the cake, up at Tweek who was recording them and lastly he looked at Kenny. The candle lights lit his face, his hair glowed like the sun. Kenny was like the sun raising after a night of darkness. He closed his eyes and blew out the candles.

His one wish was to stay with Kenny forever.

 


	9. The beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preparing for the worst
> 
> Craig

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a week late, next chapter will be net week to make up

He woke up to the scent of fresh bread wafting through the air, he pushed some of his raven hair out of his face and he got up. When he looked around, he noticed that Kenny was missing. Delicate fingers ran across the vacant area, still warm. The curtains were already drawn, and the room was seeped in light. Blue eyes lazily peered up towards the door and with a heavy sigh he forced himself out of bed.

He dragged himself to the bathroom, he groaned when he saw a little red bump on his cheek. He brushed his teeth and washed his face. He glared at his reflection. Both he and Kenny had turned thirteen and honestly, he was hating puberty. It did not treat him as nicely as Kenny. Kenny’s skin stayed flawless but that might be more because he dies frequently.

When he got down the spiral staircase he found the blonds eating at the small table in the kitchen. Kenny perked up and looked over. “I mughh mu-you a beghal.” He said with his mouth full. Craig thought it was lame and rolled his eyes before snatching the offered bagel from Kenny’s hand. He looked over to see it was salmon and cream cheese.

“Good luck with the shopping, I need to go back to work.” Tweek said as he ruffled their hair before leaving.

They were quick to start shoving each other the moment the baker left the room. They raced on who could finish a bagel the fastest, Kenny always won. Kenny didn’t stuff his face like he did. Once they were done, they rushed upstairs to get dressed and were about to leave when Tweek stopped them. He gave them some bread pudding and asked them to travel with caution before sending them off on their way.

They were walking hand in hand as they travelled together. There was no more snow on the ground as spring was beginning to transition to summer. The duo figured the best time to travel would be the small window where there wouldn’t be snow covering the ground in their mountain town.  The scent of floral greenery filled the air and there was a budding feeling of new beginnings as Kenny thought about the trip. This was going to be the first time the two had ever set foot outside, the furthest either had been is when Craig had gone on a camping trip in the outskirts of town. They were going to buy things to prepare for this journey out of the state when they’ve never even laid eyes on the world beyond this cage of a place.

Craig suddenly came to a stop. He felt like he was somewhere he wasn’t allowed, he saw something he shouldn’t have. It was a mistake to come this way. He didn’t really think about it from excitement, normally he’d steer Kenny away. Thoughts about small unstable feet chasing and following behind two others filled his mind like a pitcher ready to overflow. Kenny asked him, “What’s wrong?” but it was all blurry noise against the crashing sounds filling his mind.

Kenny turned to follow his gaze towards a lone house among so many identical ones. A house with a neatly trimmed lawn with a few potted plants, painted a light greyish beige. A sign in front of the house was marked ‘sold’ in big bold letters.

Craig watched as a family emerged, two parents and their two children. So much happier than the old family that once occupied the same space, when there were two parents with their beloved daughter as their son followed far behind.

“I wonder if I could have been like that if my parents had been different.” He said more to himself, he dragged his eyes back to Kenny with a small smile. “Not that it matters anymore.” He pressed their hands back together and they were back on their way to the store.

Everything was overwhelming when they entered the building. It smelt strongly of plastic, like the smell of opening up a package. Tall shelves the two wouldn’t be able to reach, filled with outdoor equipment. Craig settled for exploring the display tents, Kenny followed closely behind as he took everything in. The dark haired boy unceremoniously dropped onto the inflatable mattress which Kenny chuckled at. “We’re not going to need one of these, right? Too heavy to carry and it takes too long to set up. What do you think?” He asked the blond above him.

“… No, I don’t think we will.” He noticed Kenny’s slow response. The air beneath him shifted as Kenny jumped onto the mattress beside him. Kenny sat above his head, black hair touching the blond’s lap. His greyish eyes stared down at his own blue.

“Do you like living with Tweek?” Kenny asked out of nowhere and he replied with a small nod. “Would you rather stay with him?” He didn’t really understand what Kenny was asking him. Times like this, his mind felt muddled as he tried to piece together the meaning beyond Kenny’s words. Reading between the lines was too hard for him.

“What do you mean?” he asked as he watched his partner’s expression change. Kenny broke eye contact to look somewhere off into the distance.

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately.” Kenny paused to gather his thoughts. “I think it might be better if you stay with Tweek rather than do this.” He was slowly starting to piece things together. ‘This’ meant their adventure.

“You can’t be serious. We’ve been planning this for over three years.” It was Kenny’s idea to begin with. There was a small sense of hurt that budded in his chest.

“At first I was just so excited for it but now we have the bakery and Tweek.” Kenny sighed, obviously he didn’t want to share his thoughts. He liked to keep his own thoughts quiet.

“He’ll still be there when we come back.” Craig sat up and seated himself face to face with Kenny but the other couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact. “This is what we wanted, this was our dream together.” He placed still small hands against Kenny’s cheeks, who reluctantly stared back into his eyes.

Kenny’s voice was soft and quiet. “This is going to take a long time, even with me saving, there’s no way we’ll have the money. You could be living a happier life with Tweek. We’re just kids… What if I can’t protect you and you die?”

Craig closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against Kenny’s warm one. “I’m already happy but I don’t want to stay in this town forever. I want to see the world with you, I want us to mark our own place. I don’t care about the risks. I care about Tweek and I love the bakery but that’s not where I want to be. I want to be with you, out in the world.”

Kenny relaxed a bit. “You really are stubborn. I really can’t change your mind once you’re set on something… Then, if we’re doing this, I’ll protect you with my life. I won’t let anything happen to you under my watch.”

“You better, I only have one unlike you.” He chuckled heartily. “I’m kidding, I know you will because you’re an idiot.” He got up first and helped Kenny up after, he noticed the other’s face lightened up.

“What are best friends for?” Kenny joked lightly, back in a playful mood.

“I’d say they buy me ice cream.” He answered mischievously. The blond lit up, he grasped his hands and led him deeper into the building. His mind was made up and the two went on a hunt for resources.

Everything was packed into their rucksacks when they headed back to the bakery. Tweek was talking to one of his customers, Craig recalled her name being Liane. The baker waved when he spotted the two. As much as Craig enjoyed this life, he was ready for the next step.

“How did it go?” Tweek asked simply.

Kenny replied for him. “We’re more ready than ever.” He turned to him with a bright grin.

Craig held onto his hand and guided them upstairs. He threw a map they just bought out of his bag. Stripe curiously circled round them, interested in what the two had brought. Craig climbed onto the bed and opened his map. “Where should we head out first? I know we had a few plans, but we need to decide since we’re going tomorrow.”

Kenny sat beside him and hummed deeply in thought. “I think we should start with a small trip.” The blond drew a trail with his finger. “We should make a small loop. We go into Nebraska, up to north and south Dakota, into Montana, back down into Wyoming and then back at Tweek’s place.”

“Sounds like a plan.” He quickly slipped off the bed to get into his pyjamas, in his mind, the faster he slept the sooner their trip would begin. Kenny quickly joined him. The two buried themselves into the bed and stared up at the ceiling, no cracks like their old room.

“When we’re out there, we can stare at the stars every night.” Kenny’s voice sounded through the silence. They held hands like they do every night. Craig closed his eyes.

“Maybe we’ll go to space when we’re finished.” Craig muttered tiredly.

Kenny chuckled at the idea as he closed his own eyes. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to follow my Art:  
> [Tumblr](https://kuroxanarts.tumblr.com)  
> [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/kuroxann/)
> 
> Want to join the discord?  
> [Discord](https://discord.gg/TrKfKQN)


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